Reading the local
BOOK SCENE Best independent bookstores in the area
by Holly Adams Since the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda Row — a staple of the Bethesda downtown area — closed its doors in Jan. 2018, many community members have missed having a local bookstore. To replace these larger chains when they close, independent bookstores have grown in popularity, with sales growing an average of 7.5% over the last five years, according to the American Booksellers Association. Independent bookstores around the D.C. area offer more community-oriented spaces to relax, read and browse unique finds that are unavailable at large chain bookstores.
Kensington Row Bookshop
42
In 2002, Elisenda Sola-Sole (‘78) opened the Kensington Row Bookshop to create a space where people in the community could come together and be around books, she said. The Kensington Row Bookshop carries mostly used books and is in the epicenter of a vibrant community on Kensington’s Antique Row: an eclectic area with antique shops, gift shops, art galleries and restaurants. From poetry to historical fiction to cookbooks, Kensington Row Bookshop offers a wide selection of used books along with journals, posters, old postcards and greeting cards made by local artists for sale. As a part of her community outreach efforts, Sola-Sole provides two spaces where outside groups — such as the history books club, the philosophy club and the weekly meditative journaling workshop — can meet on the upper level. The groups use these spaces for free, but many return the favor by donating books to the store. Sola-Sole also hosts the monthly Kensington Row Poetry Series, an open mic event where community members can share poetry, on the lower level of her store. “It’s a way of reaching out to the community, bringing the community in, and offering the experience of writing and reading in a creative space,” Sola-Sole said. “In return, the community is very supportive of the shop.” The Catalan Library, a room filled with books in Catalan, is very special to Sola-Sole and her family who are from Catalonia, Spain. She decorated the room with quotes in Catalan and a replica of the Sagrada Família cathedral in Barcelona. Surrounding a circular table at the center of the room are shelves of books that her family has accumulated. The wide selection of books aren’t for sale but are available for customers to read in this special room. Inspired by Catalan tradition, Sola-Sole organizes an annual Kensington Day of the Book Festival on Antique Row, a combination of the Festival of the Rose and the Day of the Book. For this event, she invites the whole community to come together and meet with local authors, watch cookbook demonstrations and hear live music. The festival brings nearby bookstores in Kensington together; Sola-Sole finds it important that independent bookstores stick together because “they each have their own personality,” she said. It’s why she
has a list of all the local bookstores at the front of her store, she said. “It’s important for bookstores to support each other because I don’t see other bookstores as competition: I see them as complementing my shop,” Sola-Sole said. “Bookstores are very different, we can’t all have the same books. Rather than send people to shop online, we should send people to other bookstores so that we can all support each other.” Sola-Sole said that she learns a lot from her customers when they ask her for certain authors or subjects that lead to conversations about the customer’s interests, like their travels if they’re looking for a travel guide. She learns just as much from her customers as she does from the books in her store, Sola-Sole said. “One thing about working with books is you realize how much there’s to know and how little you actually know,” she said. “There’s so much to learn every day.”
Bonjour Books D.C.
Walking into Bonjour Books D.C. — only a few stores down from the Kensington Row Bookshop — you’re greeted with the sounds of Paris as Yves Montand, a famous French singer, serenades customers through the small radio on the front desk. Jennifer Fulton, a fluent French speaker, opened the quaint French bookstore in April after she realized that her son, who was learning French, had little access to French literature in the D.C. area. A little sign reads: “Your favorite characters speak French!” under translated copies of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Harry Potter.” From children’s books to rare books about music and theatre, Bonjour Books offers a taste of France in a space that Fulton designed to encourage appreciation of international cultures. Learning French can be a gateway to learning about so many other cultures that also come from French speaking regions, said Fulton, who met her husband who is originally from Morocco because they both spoke French. Bonjour Books is a place where anyone can go to practice their French skills while immersing themselves in the culture and a place where prospective American tourists can find a travel guide in English for a trip to France. For many, it’s a “chance to make a connection and not be on a screen,” Fulton said. Fulton believes that independent books stores are a great way to build community, especially among smaller groups, like the French community in the D.C. photo by HOLLY ADAMS
